Failure of Compatibility
by bellalestrange2003
Summary: Pg13 for mild language and violence. JL--Lily is in denial about her growing desire for James but when something happens to change their world forever, Lily begins to think he's not all bad. Can she forgive him for the years of teasing and harrassment?R
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, it's J.K.Rowling's! How about that for a disclaimer :P  
  
Alrighty, this is my first shot at a Lily/James fic. It takes place in their sixth year, just so you know... but goes onto seventh year as well. And if there is not much of Peter, I'm sorry, I just HATE HIS GUTS!! If there was an emoticon that described how I feel about him... I would use it every time his name was uttered... --trails off--Oh, and if you want to read something while I'm updating or what-not, I have another HP story! I haven't updated it in forever though because so many things have come up... I've... really forgotten about it. :S Okie well, better start on this one then eh?  
  
**Chapter One**  
  
It was a blur of colours. Swirling blue and black, and a hint of yellow, all spinning so fast Lily felt as if she was going to be sick. Her eyes shut tight in a hope that if she couldn't see it, it was in fact not happening. Her effort was useless though, she could hear the spinning, and she could feel the colours dance around her, as if taunting her. Lily opened her mouth to cry out, but as soon as she did she awoke with a start.

Lily blinked in the pitch black of her dorm room, gasping for breathe, drenched in cold sweat. She barely noticed her heart was racing inside her chest. What had she been dreaming about? She couldn't remember.  
_'It had to be something!'_ she thought irritably as she felt her cold and clammy forehead with her palms.  
She lay back on her bed, still catching her breathe and staring up at the canopy of her four poster bed. This was not what she had expected for the first night back at Hogwarts. Lily shut her eyes tight, forcing herself to relive her dream, curiosity fueling her desperate attempts to find out what the dream had been about to make her wake up with her heart beating ferociously against her chest, drenched in a cold sweat.  
_'It's no use,'_ came the voice in her head after what seemed like an eternity of laying there, eyes shut tight.  
Lily sighed and silently agreed. She stopped forcing her eyes shut with all her might and rolled over so that she could peek out of the drapes to see the rest of her dormitory.  
It was bathed in moonlight from the window nearest Lily's bed, so she had quite a good view of her classmates, all of whom were snoring loudly, hair askew over their faces.  
Alice Retter was making a good deal of noise in the bed next to Lily's. Lily glanced over at her and silenced a giggle when she saw Alice snoring loudly, clinging to a pillow as if for dear life.  
"Frank," Alice squealed in her sleep, which made Lily snort loudly, forgetting her attempts to be quiet.  
It was well known around the school that Alice Retter and Frank Longbottom were desperately in love. Lily wondered why they still hadn't acted on their love, and guessed that it was mainly because of Alice's shy nature mixed with her low self confidence.  
"He doesn't even like me!" Alice had moaned one day to Lily. "Why would he? He's smart, and handsome, and I'm..." Alice trailed off sadly.  
"And you're clever and pretty!" Lily had finished for her in an assuring voice.  
"No... and I'm fat and clumsy!" Alice sobbed, pulling at her round cheeks. Lily had looked around the room, giving herself time to think of something to say.  
"You're not fat," Lily said soothingly at last. "You're just... round."  
If Lily had thought that would help, she was dreadfully wrong. Alice wailed and flung herself into her four-poster bed, closing the drapes behind her.  
Lily shrugged at the memory. Alice had obviously forgotten about being called round, for she and Lily were still good friends.  
She poked her head around her drapes to look at her best friend's four-poster that stood across from Lily's.  
Her best friend was Abigail Finnigan. She was a clever and good- looking witch, though she spent most of her time talking endlessly about Quidditch.  
"Can you believe the nerve of Potter? I was right in front of him, ready to catch the Quaffle, when he just darts right past me and gets the damned thing stolen by Parkison!" Abby had exclaimed one day in their fifth year after a great match.  
"Well you know Potter. He's always trying to show off on that Broom!" Lily muttered angrily.  
"Mind you, we did crush them... but he has to learn teamwork!" Abby said crossly.  
Perhaps it was the fact that Abby despised Potter almost as much as Lily that they became great friends. Lily had never really thought about it that way.  
She pulled her head back into her four-poster and stared blankly up at the canopy. She had only one thing on her mind... Potter.  
He had taken it upon himself since fifth year to pester her endlessly.  
"Alright Evans?" he'd greet her every morning, his hand lost in the depth of his thick black hair.  
"Not anymore," Lily would reply, pushing past him.  
Lily knew what he was up to. James Potter had already dated almost every girl in their year, excluding the ones from Slytherin.  
_'He's trying to get me to go out with him because I'm the only girl he can't have,'_ Lily assured herself stubbornly.  
Though she was beginning to have her doubts that her explanation was James' real intention. When she told James that she would rather date the Giant Squid, James had levitated it towards Lily, lips puckered as if expecting a kiss.  
"Come on Evans, don't disappoint!" James said loudly over a crowd of people's endless giggles when Evans had stared at it in disgust. "He came all this way for you!"  
Although the magic was impressive, Lily was not going to admit that to him. She stalked off to castle and endured two months of Slytherin torture.  
"How's your boyfriend, Evans?" they'd sneer as she passed.  
Lily sighed, hoping that almost everyone would have forgotten about the Giant Squid incident last year. She didn't know what she would do if another person transfigured something she was holding into a small squid.  
_'He's just an egotistical airhead,'_ she thought to herself before drifting off into sleep.  
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James, on the other hand, was still wide awake in his dormitory with Sirius, Remus and Peter.  
"Come off it, Prongs!" Sirius said loudly as James had stated that he was still planning to win Lily over. "She's never going to fall for you. She hates you even more than Snape does I bet."  
James stared in shock at Sirius. "I know she likes me!" he said confidently while his hand found his way to his hair. "She's just too stubborn to admit it!"  
"I have to agree with Padfoot," Remus spoke up. James rounded on him, glaring at him with all his might.  
"Well that's a surprise!" James said in mock fascination.  
"All I'm saying is that... maybe you should leave Evans alone?" Remus said quietly.  
"Leave her alone? What do you think I am, Moony? A stalker?" James retorted.  
Remus closed his eyes and opened them tiredly. "No. I just think that Evans will not change her mind about you in an instant because of some dazzling prank you manage to pull off. She despises that sort of behavior," Remus informed.  
James opened his mouth to retaliate but was cut off by a voice in a nearby four-poster.  
"Just because you four are up talking about pranks and girls you like, doesn't mean we want to hear it!"  
"Sorry Longbottom!" James called pleasantly without a trace of guilt in his voice.  
"I think you should go for her, Prongs," Peter said in avid admiration, apparently pleased that James was going to continue with his pranks.  
"You know what, Wormtail? I think I will," James nodded in agreement, ignoring Sirius and Remus who were rolling their eyes.  
"AHEM!"  
"Yes yes, Longbottom. We're going to bed!" James said angrily.  
The four stood up and looked at each other. "Night!" James said happily while crossing to his four-poster.  
James was so keen on having the next day come quickly, that he ignored the piece of parchment that was magically flying around his bed. No doubt it was from Sirius, and no doubt it was something meaningless. With that, James rolled over and fell asleep almost instantly.  
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... Yea I know it's short but my mom has just come back in and has given me five minutes to wrap this all up! Review please!? But be nice :)


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: ... Uh... I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters... --sobs-- DON'T SUUUUUUEEE ME!  
  
A/N: Yes the other chapter was incredibly short... I couldn't help it though! And since this is not really my computer... I didn't want to save that first chapter to the computer longer than I had to... and when my mum came home she was all wondering what I had been writing. So sorry! I just hate when my family reads something of mine concerning Harry Potter because then they go mad with laughter --shakes fist-- Yea there were some mistakes in the other chapter... I don't know if any of you have seen them yet though, because well, there have been no reviews :P I wonder how long it will take for this to show up on the front page... e.e But just so you know, reviews are really the only thing that get me excited to write more in the story... good reviews! --wink wink, nudge nudge-- I promise this chapter will be a lot longer though... the other one was just short because well... I didn't have much time to finish it up, save, and upload the chapter to fanfiction.net -- excuses-- And the other chapter was just to set a sort of... mood if you will. Okay enough ranting... on with the story... I know. And I'm a bit... drowsy because I have this terrible cold and I was forced to take those night-time cold pills during the day... stupid mum... --mumbles-- but just so you know if I make a stupid mistake, don't blame me TT blame the cold I got for sharing my orange juice with my friend -.-  
  
**Chapter Two**  
  
"Timetables are here!" Abby exclaimed happily to Lily as she sat down and began helping herself to some toast.  
Lily didn't even look up. "Great," she muttered.  
Abby gazed at her with a frown. "What's the matter with you? You love getting timetables!" Abby waved the parchment in front of her in hopes of making Lily smile.  
Lily snatched the parchment from Abby and stared at it. "Double Potions then Care of Magical Creatures," Lily read aloud what they had that morning. "Sounds like a thrilling start of year! Brewing potions and babysitting ugly foul..."  
"You wouldn't be talking about me, would you Evans?" James asked, appearing behind her. Lily turned and looked at him and her eyes narrowed. He had the biggest grin plastered over his face, as if he knew something she didn't.  
"What do you want, Potter?" Lily said in a forced calm.  
James tried to look as casual as possible, but he soon lost his train of thought when he stared back into Lily's bright green eyes.  
"Oh, I was just passing by," he said quickly, still grinning.  
"Then pass!" Lily demanded.  
James sauntered past, his hand messing up his hair. Lily watched as he sat a few seats down from them next to Sirius.  
She despised Sirius almost as much as James. The Terrible Two... Dynamic Duo... she loathed the nicknames as much as she did their real names.  
  
_'They're so popular... just because they have some good looks and a bit of skill in Charms,'_ Lily thought bitterly. As much as she hated admitting it, James was quite handsome. _'Well... so he is really good looking, but that has nothing to do with his attitude!'_  
She was still staring at James, watching as he glanced back over to her with his handsome hazel eyes...  
"Lily? Hello! Have you been listening to a word I've said?"  
Lily was jerked back to reality almost too suddenly. "What?" she said hastily looking at Abby.  
"I asked if you've been listening to me," Abby repeated angrily.  
Lily racked her brain for some sort of memory of Abby talking to her. "Um..."  
Abby rolled her eyes impatiently. "Maybe you should stop looking at Potter and start paying attention!" she snapped. Abby took the Daily Prophet that she had been reading and shoved the front page in front of Lily's face.  
Lily frowned and took the paper from Abby and spread it out on the table in front of them.  
  
_MINISTRY OF MAGIC IN MUGGLE MAYHEM  
  
Yesterday evening, while tucking their child into bed, Mrs. and Mr. Reynolds of London experienced what no Muggle should ever have to go through. A group of masked wizards and witches arrived at the Muggle house for what can only be described as senseless torture. _

_"They... they took our child... skinned him alive with these... these wands you call them!" said a hysteric Mrs. Reynolds to our reporter when asked to comment. "_

_The wizards and witches who have performed this senseless act of violence, are asked to come forward and admit openly it was they who caused such an alarm!" said Barty Crouch, Minister for Magic. _

_Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds and their child are now currently in St. Mungo's for treatment on several bites burns and cuts. There is a 2000 galleon reward for any witch or wizard who has any information concerning the Muggle torture.  
_  
Lily's eyes had widened without Lily realizing it. "Who would do such a thing?" Lily gasped.

"I've been trying to talk to you about it, but you obviously didn't hear me! Some deranged lunatics did this I bet!" Abby said in a whisper. "Have you noticed more and more Muggle tortures lately?"

Lily nodded. She hadn't really thought about it before, but there was always some snippet in the Daily Prophet that told about a form of Muggle torture, yet today was different. It had made front page news. Lily wondered why it had all of a sudden become important to the Ministry but was torn away from her wondering by a sudden shriek of laughter.

She glanced around to see Bellatrix Black laughing maniacally at the Slytherin table. Lily saw, with a look of horror, that Black was holding the Daily Prophet and was no doubt laughing about what was on the first page.

"What is _she_ laughing at?" Marlene McKinnon asked, leaning across the table to Lily and Abby. Lily shoved the Daily Prophet over to Marlene who skimmed the front page, her eyes wide.

Just as Lily suspected, Marlene threw the paper down. "I bet it has something to do with _her_," Marlene accused, glaring at Black. Like Lily, Marlene was a muggle-born witch, and like Lily, Marlene had taken the attack of the Muggles personally.

Marlene was already rising out of her chair when a hand came out of nowhere. "Sit down, McKinnon." Marlene looked around and saw Sturgis Podmore, Head Boy of Gryffindor. He had obviously seen the paper and knew exactly what Marlene was up to.

"But... look at her Sturgis! She's just laughing away like she wanted this to happen. Like she was involved," Marlene said darkly.

"Nonsense McKinnon! There is no way out of Hogwarts that you could take without being recognized," Podmore said wearily. "Let it go, you'll only cause even more trouble for Gryffindor and quite frankly, I don't want to be the one giving detentions my first day as Head Boy."

"He doesn't know anything," James said loudly from down the table. "There are ways out of Hogwarts." Sirius and James stood up, a glint of mischief in their eyes and walked away, closely followed by Remus and Peter.

"They think they're so rebellious!" Lily said angrily after them.  
"Well, they are rebels Evans," Marlene pointed out.  
"It's nothing to be proud of," Lily muttered. There was a moment of silence before Alice stumbled towards them.  
"We'd better get down to Potions!" she gasped and Lily, Marlene and Abby silently agreed.  
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The Marauders entered the Potions classroom smugly and took the two tables at the back of the classroom as usual. It had been two months since they had seen Snape, and to James, that was two months too long. "Reckon Snivellus has changed?" Sirius whispered under his breathe as he watched the door to the potions room in anticipation. "Bet he's gotten greasier," James replied.  
"I can't see how that's possible," Remus said and they began laughing.  
"Ugh... Stebbins," Sirius said, frowning in disappointment. He had expected it was Snape that time.  
Blaire Stebbins and Frank Longbottom walked into the class, closely followed by Marlene McKinnon and Emmeline Vance. So far, the only Slytherins in the classroom were Dolohov and Rookwood.  
Finally, as if Christmas had come early, Snape strode into class, glancing only for a few moments to the back of the class where the Marauders stood, eyes glistening maliciously.  
"Seats! Take your seats! Come on now, we have an important lesson today!" their teacher, Professor Trump ordered.  
James took his eyes off Snape only for a moment as he watched Lily and her friend take their seats near the front of the class.  
"We'll be making a complex potion today," Professor Trump announced excitedly. "Complex but enjoyable!" he added as an afterthought. "It's called a Calming Draught! Heh heh, plenty of you have taken it last year, I expect," he chuckled to himself. "Well, the instructions are on the board!" he said, recovering from his chuckles. He tapped his wand on the blackboard and instructions appeared almost in an instant.  
James grabbed two Toad Eyes and dropped them into his potion, staring fixedly on Snape. James was not dumb, he wasn't going to pick a fight with a teacher standing there, no, he would wait for Snape to start the fight.  
Double Potions never seemed to end. James fought hard to concentrate on his potion, but kept getting distracted. Snape was sitting only a desk away from Lily which made it easy to watch them both.  
As if it would never come, the bell that signified the end of class rung and James quickly grabbed his book bag and hurried out the door.  
"Alright Evans?" asked James casually as the Marauders passed her to get to Snape quickly.  
Lily did not reply. She looked the other way, but James grinned as he saw her blush.  
"Oi! Snivellus!" Sirius called happily.  
Snape turned around so quick James thought for a second that he would topple over.  
"Don't come near me!" Snape hissed, reaching into his pocket for his wand.  
"Why, Snivellus!" Sirius said in mock hurt. "We just wanted to know how your summer went!"  
"_Impedimenta!_" Snape yelled with triumph. Sirius was knocked backwards and hit the stone wall behind him with a deafening thud.  
James had no time to sympathize for Sirius. He had already brandished his wand and had hexed Snape so bad that by the time Snape had risen to his feet, several large red boils were appearing all over his face.  
"What are you doing?" Lily shrieked at James.  
James grinned as his wand-free hand found its way to his hair instinctively, as if it were a bird seeking comfort in a nest. "Hey Evans," James said enthusiastically.  
"I told you I don't want your help, Mudblood!" Snape spat as he saw Lily approach.  
"Who says I'm here to help you, Snivellus?" Lily demanded, rounding on Snape. "Big man, Potter? Hexing people in the corridor!" Lily screamed, turning back to James. "Not a care in the world that you'll lose points for Gryffindor! I've had enough of losing the House Cup to the Slytherins because of you and him," Lily said glancing at Sirius who was rubbing the back of his head.  
"This greasy git here is the one who hexed me for no-" Sirius began but closed his mouth quickly.  
"I'll be telling Podmore about this," Lily warned, casting an icy glance to the three of them.  
"Ah, Evans," James grinned, making Lily even more frustrated that after all her yelling he was still grinning happily. "It seems you really have begun to like me."  
Lily blinked at him. "What makes you think that?" Lily snorted.  
"Well, you used to tell McGonagall about me," James said, continuing to grin. "Now you're telling Podmore! An old friend who wouldn't dare put me in detention."  
"Argh!" she screamed. "I have not begun to like you, Potter. I will never like you! Not in a million years! You immature, conceited-"  
Lily stopped when she realized that James wasn't looking at her anymore. "Well we'll just have to wait until a million years have gone by. Later, Evans!" James called as he and Sirius raced up the dungeon steps after an escaping Snape  
"I think you really got to him that time, Lily," Addy said sarcastically from behind her.  
Lily's face grew hot with anger. She didn't know how she would survive another year of James' torture.

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A/N: Geh... I know it's not much longer than the previous chapter... couldn't help it! I don't like writing massive chapters! Anywho, please review! I love them --tear--


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